A Demon's Mercy
by Nightangel52
Summary: Ten years after Naruto and Sasuke's final battle, Naruto is in the ruins of Konoha, broken, guilty, and insane. Kurama has had enough of this and decides that it's time that Naruto has a chance to fix everything that went wrong. (AU Time Travel Fic) (Insane Naruto at start) (PTSD Naruto)
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Naruto Shippuden, or any other anime/manga for that matter. This is just a parody and all rights belong to their specific owners.**

 **1212122121212121212121212121212121212121212121212121212121**

Hell, that was what Naruto was looking at as he surveyed what used to be his village. There were roots and destruction everywhere but no matter how much Naruto wanted to he just couldn't cry. Sakura had run off with Kakashi after the battle and now Naruto spent his time hopping from place to place with Kurama and the other bijuu every now and then.

As he looked down at his hand Naruto could see the blood that trailed down from his fingertips to his wrist. They were both supposed to die that day… but instead he had more chakra and overpowered his brother's final chidori. He wanted to shut it off then, but his control was gone with the weariness that came from the fight and the next thing he knew, his hand had impaled Sasuke's chest. That had been ten years ago. He had lost his six-paths sage mode when Sasuke died. It turned out when one died the other lost their powers in a strange cause and effect type of deal.

He had spent the first few years alone traveling across Whirlpool Country and studying the surviving seals to find a way to free Kurama from his prison. Afterwards, he just trained to honor the memory of his fallen comrades. Now he was probably one of the strongest shinobi that had ever lived. He knew almost every jutsu ever recorded in every village, multiple taijutsu styles, was a master in seals, knew how to use every shinobi weapon, and had mastered almost every other shinobi skill. He was sure Hashirama or Madara would still be able to defeat him however. He would never run out of chakra now after mastering chakra control to a point that he was on par with Sakura and with his already massive reserves.

His mood turned even worse as he thought of his onetime crush. The bijuu were good friends, but he would appreciate some human contact every once in a while. Sakura and Kakashi had blamed him for Sasuke's death and their current… unfortunate situation so he hadn't talked to Sakura for 6 long years and had talked to Kakashi 5 years ago. He had grown much more mature from all of this loneliness and his look showed it. He wore a black, long sleeved shirt with orange lines running up from the sides and swirled around his sleeves. His pants were black cargo pants with multiple pockets that held seals and weapons. He wore black steel tipped boots and finished off the look with a navy blue coat he found in Kiri. He also crafted a sword meant to look like the Executioner's Blade that was just as long and thick but ended in a triangular pattern and was only half as wide.

He had killed Kakashi with this sword… Naruto quickly shook his head as he remembered that day 5 years ago. He didn't want to remember that… He didn't want to remember that feeling of betrayal, the pain of having a chidori rammed through his shoulder without Kurama there to heal him. He didn't want to remember the sickening satisfaction he gained when his sword stabbed his sensei in the same place his rasengan had killed Sasuke. Naruto couldn't keep himself from remembering and threw up from his perch on top of the carving of his father's head.

He shook his head again and made his way down to the village. Most of it had been destroyed but a few of the buildings were still standing. "Hello Iruka-sensei, how are you doing?" he asked a stone statue of his old sensei that he had made with earth style jutsu. "I see you still aren't talking. I thought I told you to go see Tsunade-baachan about that tongue infection. I hope she heals all of the others' infections too, it's starting to get lonely around here heh heh," Naruto chuckled but then grew quiet as he looked around some more.

He had made statues of all of his other precious people too. Next to Iruka was Gaara who was visiting to see the coronation before getting the infection. He had been forced to make his own face on the Hokage Monument, he hoped Tsunade hurried up and got that cure ready, it had been 4 years after all. He looked up at his face on the Hokage Monument and smiled shakily. He wished that the genjutsu that took all of his real friends could have taken him too. Naruto rapidly cut out that line of thinking. It had been that train of thought that made him kill Sakura in a last ditch effort attempt to save everyone. It turned out that even in death, Sasuke lost his sage given powers. Even Edo Tensei did not give Naruto or Sasuke their powers back and he still remembered Sasuke's harsh words when he heard that he had died and that his surrogate brother had sacrificed his friend like he was Orochimaru.

Naruto sighed and started walking to the ruins of the Hokage Tower. He had paperwork to write so he could fill it out later after all…

121212121212121212121212121212121212121212121212121212121212121212

Kurama frowned as he looked at his former container walk towards the Hokage Tower with his shoulders slouched. Even the bijuu talking to him did not help anymore. His mind slowly started to deteriorate after he became the last human on the planet and Kurama and his siblings were incredibly worried about their friend. Naruto had thrown himself into learning and training with the massive amount of clones he could make until he knew more things than any other ninja. Despite his modesty, Kurama thought that Naruto could defeat any other shinobi with his massive skill arsenal.

However, his skills were wasted here and he only drove himself crazier and crazier with time. His mental fortifications had broken some time ago and he took a nosedive in saneness when he killed the only other humans and another nosedive when he learned how to sense things and found that everyone was already dead inside the cocoons. He had stayed inside of his old apartment for 3 days before Kurama literally dragged him out with his teeth to get him to actually eat before he starved himself to death.

The giant fox sighed as he looked up to the moon, which had not left the sky since the genjutsu started. He supposed it was time to use THAT jutsu. He was the only one left with this technique because he was the strongest. While he did not have any special abilities, it was not because he was the strongest, it was just because it wasn't meant to be used unless it is the biggest emergency or catastrophe. He really should have used it 10 years ago, but he wanted to enjoy being free before his entire consciousness was literally erased from existence.

He mentally apologized to all of his siblings and received confused emotions from everyone but Gyuki. The ox-octopus thing, he still didn't know what his father was on when he made him, was told about this technique hundreds of years ago and had wanted to use it as soon as Kiribi was confirmed dead. His favorite sibling just sent his thanks as Kurama put his hands into a symbol he hoped he would have never had to use. With a large flash of energy and a sad smile from Kurama the world faded to white. Right before he left Kurama wondered how far back his first friend would go. "Oh well," he thought with a grin. "That's the brat's problem."

121212121212121212121212121212121212212121212121212121212121212121

Naruto was filing reports for an alliance with New Whirlpool Village when he saw a flash of light come from the one surviving window in the tower. He smiled as he thought that the genjutsu was finally taking him too and he could join his friends. He closed his eyes and hoped that he could end up back when everything started, back when he could change everything.

121212121212121212121212121212121212121212121212121212121212121212

Naifu Taranku had seen many strange things in her life as assistant to the Hokage. She had seen a ninja whose hair could literally defy gravity, a boy who dressed in a green spandex suit like it was actually stylish, that boy's sensei who apparently started the 'trend', she had even walked in on the Fourth Hokage and his wife doing the sexy yellow horizontal flash. But never in her life had she seen something as strange as a 27 year old who looked exactly like said Fourth Hokage appear about 2 feet away from her.

"Sweet Kami almighty!" she yelled as she leapt to the other side of the room and checked her heart. She was forty years old dammit, her heart couldn't handle shit like that. Suddenly, two Anbu agents appeared in the room and were looking around for what had scared her. She shakily pointed to the now standing blond who was now standing and looking around like he couldn't believe where he was. Looking closely, she could see he had a Konoha forehead protector that was cut, chipped, and a little burnt. She thought that he was loyal to Konoha until she say three more attached to his arm. On the top was one with a horizontal slash through it, in the middle was one that seemed to have some sort of dust stuck in the symbol, and on the final one there was a large cut through one end of it that looked like a sword slice.

He barely seemed to notice anyone else in the room as he looked down at his hands and then around the administration office. "Yes! I'm in the genjutsu! But who is the Hokage if I don't have the hat on? And why does the office look so weird?" He seemed to ponder about this until the two Anbu decided to knock him unconscious for questioning. He did not even look up as he broke one of their masks with a single punch and then hit a pressure point on the other's neck to knock them out. "Shhhhh I'm thinking."

Was he serious?! He just knocked out two elite ninja while he was lost in thought?! Who the hell was this guy?! Naifu breathed a sigh of relief when the Third Hokage appeared behind the guy in his battle gear. "What is the meaning of this?! Who are you and why have you attacked my ninja?!" the old Hokage commanded while in a battle ready stance.

Neither of them were prepared for the man to smile brightly and run towards the Hokage with his arms open for a hug. "Jii-chan! Tsunade healed your infection! I thought it would never happen!" The poor man did not know what to do as he was caught off guard and captured in a spinning hug. She saw his eyes widen when he saw the man's face and rapidly grab him before teleporting away. She guessed he was taking him elsewhere to deal with him, good riddance. She walked back to her desk and sat down, trying to forget about the strange occurrence.

121212121212121212121212121212121212121212121212121212121212121212

Hiruzen Sarutobi has lived for a long, long time. During that time, he had never seen anything like this. Here in front of him was the spitting image of Minato Namikaze, only with whisker marks. "Who are you boy?" the old man hissed when the two got to his office.

The man looked hurt as he looked at Hiruzen and he saw a ton of emotions in his eyes. Pain, loneliness, and insanity being the three major ones he witnessed. "Don't you remember me old man? It's me Naruto!" he smiled at this last part like he was remembering something. Meanwhile, Hiruzen raised an eyebrow at the man.

"The only Naruto I know is in the academy," this seemed to make the man react as his mouth widened in amazement.

"There are two of me?! Wow this genjutsu sure is strange!" the man, Naruto, said with a smile.

"What genjutsu? If you are in one why aren't you trying to get out?" Hiruzen asked curiously.

Naruto giggled insanely before answering, "Oh, I see! No-one in the genjutsu knows it's a genjutsu! Well don't worry, I know how much you love knowledge old man so I'll fill you in!" he looked around to make sure no-one was around without whispering to the older man, "You can't tell anyone though, won't want there to be a panic."

Hiruzen decided to humor the man and nodded to hear why there would be a panic. "Well this had to be a genjutsu because the real Konoha has been destroyed for a decade now." Hiruzen's eyes widened while the man seemed to nod seriously. It seemed that references to the 'real world' made 'Naruto' here somber and serious. He would call the man's bullshit if he didn't see the soul-crushing grief and pain in the man's eyes. He had never seen that kind of pain and it spoke wonders of the man's mental fortitude that he was only insane.

"Destroyed…? How so?" Hiruzen asked warily. Naruto then told Hiruzen about everything that happened. Oh and that meant EVERYTHING starting from birth. Now Hiruzen knew that this was really Naruto but he still didn't believe that it was a genjutsu. Time travel was proven possible when Minato developed the Hiraishin after all, well at least time/space teleportation.

First thing was first however. He needed to get this man to a Yamanaka to get his mind fixed before doing anything else. Hopefully, with this man's help they could save the world. With calm hands he guided Naruto out of the building, despite the aid's protests, and towards the Yamanaka Clan building. If anyone could fix him Inoichi could. If he couldn't then he feared the village could be doomed…

121212121212121212121212121212121212121212121212121212121212121212

 **Well what did you guys think? This is a new story that I just thought of about time travel and all that. I hope this one is also a little different with Naruto's insanity being part of it and all that. He will also have a few flashbacks every now and then because he DEFINITELY had some PTSD from the whole war and killing his only friends. I hope you enjoy it and please rate and review to let me know how you all feel about it.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Naruto Shippuden, or any other anime/manga for that matter. This is just a parody and all rights belong to their specific owners.**

 **Review Responses:**

 **LavenderMYSTery (February 14)- yea I know, luckily, or unluckily depending on how you see it, he already had about a decade of loneliness that conditioned him for this extended period of it, but, as you can see, that did not completely shield him from the damage. Also, thank you for the compliments! And Naifu was actually a little easter egg from my other story The Snake's Successor. Or I was just too lazy to come up with another character. Depends on you look at it.**

 **Kyuzi4896 (February 15)- well I hope these next few chapters will help you decide how you feel about this fanfic.**

 **Frenchman65 (February 15)- Thanks! I will continue but if I have to decide whether to post a chapter for my other Naruto story or this one in an amount of time (Say I need to decide whether to finish one of the story's chapters to reach my self-imposed deadline of a chapter a week after the last at most) I will choose to do the other's chapter first since it was made first and is my priority.**

 **Xhine (February 15)- Naruto is 27 years old right now and is the strongest kage to ever live. Although his power is only slightly larger than Hashirama and Madara's. The problem is that he cannot take the feeling of battle for more than 30-45 seconds before his PTSD kicks in and even then he is easily distracted and trusts everything he hears because his statues could never lie to him and he was already a trustworthy person.**

 **Keeto7 (February 15)- Thanks and here you go.**

 **OutofReality08 (February 16)- Thanks for your enthusiasm and don't worry, the new chapter is here. Also, most of my first chapters are short like that. The rest are usually about 2,500-5,000 words long.**

 **1212121212121212121212121212121212121212121212121212121212**

Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed as he led an, and he will never not feel weird thinking this, older insane Naruto through the streets of Konoha. After the fifth time the man had yelled out at a passerby about how their infection was fixed and how it was strange his face fell off the monument he decided to blindfold the man until they got to the Yamanaka Clan. The poor man couldn't decide whether or not he was in a genjutsu, his world where everyone was healed from some sort of silence inflecting disease, or was actually sane enough to believe his theory of him being in the past.

Hiruzen frowned as he reconsidered that thought in his brain. 'Sane' enough to believe he was in the past was a truly terrifying thought in his PROFESSional opinion. He chuckled softly in his mind, forgetting about the situation. That pun would never get old. Hiruzen looked at the stumbling blond and couldn't suppress a small smile at the man. Naruto had grown up to be a splendid ninja and would have been hokage had the world not turned to Hell from what Hiruzen understood.

He had no doubt that if he was sane, he could defeat his old ass easily. Hopefully, Inoichi could help him but if he was perfectly honest, he was worried what the clan head would find. Some people were simply irreparable but it was possible to, oh what was the word, rehabilitate the mind from what he heard. Naruto might never be sane enough to be hokage again but it was possible to increase his bursts of saneness to a level to where he would be insane only about 1 out of 7 days. He was about to continue his line of thought when Naruto abruptly stopped and started clawing his blindfold off to see what he thought he sensed.

Hiruzen was wondering what he was doing when he heard a nonchalant 'Yo' from one of his new jounin sensei. Hiruzen had no doubt he was paler as Orochimaru and immediately went to Naruto to cover his eyes. He did not get a chance as he was thrown away and Naruto dropped to his knees with his hands on his knees and a wind style jutsu blew off his feet. Naruto screamed loudly as everything 5 yards around him were thrown 20 feet away.

"Whoa what's going on? You alright man?" Kakashi asked warily as he put his book away. However, Naruto couldn't answer him as he continued to scream as memories he had tried to suppress assaulted him. "What's wrong?" Kakashi asked as he went over to Naruto to put his hand on his shoulder, but instead was met with fearful eyes and a leap away.

Hiruzen tried to get him to calm down as he held a kunai shakily in front of him as defense but he wasn't there. He was in a rainy field in the Land of Grass facing off against the sharingan-less man who was his jounin sensei. He was in solid mist as the man he used to think of as a big brother charged him with the Executioner's Blade. He was blocking attack after attack with the little katana he had just started training with. He was using Kabuto's forbidden technique to head the slash wound across his chest. He was playing dead until the man came close enough for Naruto to swipe up with his, newly modified, short sword which half blinded the man and caused a large slash to form on his forehead protector. He was using the halt in attacks to stab his teacher in the heart with his half of a sword. He was realizing too late it was a ploy to impale him with the chidori in the shoulder even though he was aiming for the lung. He was realizing too late that it had been Kakashi's plan to die with him all along…

As Kakashi removed his forehead protector to use the sharingan to knock him out he remembered two last things. He remembered a strong feeling of hatred for Kurama for using the remaining fox chakra in his system to keep him from bleeding out and the feeling of something finally snapping…

121212121212121212121212121212121212121212121212121212121212121212

Kakashi looked down at the knocked out shinobi he held in sadness. He had seen this before many times. Ninja broke on the field of battle all of the time and no matter how many times Kakashi saw it happen, he would never be fully prepared for it. "Who was he Hokage-Sama?" he asked sullenly as he picked up the man before standing up next to the hokage.

Hiruzen only had to think for a split second before he came up with a reasonable story. "He was one of my personal Anbu. He broke on a mission where his squad was ambushed and killed. He was the only survivor and was tortured for three years until he broke free and came back here. He does not even know whether he is in a genjutsu, the real world, or another time where it never even happened. The reason he reacted to you like that was because the enemy made him see the Leaf's greatest heroes kill him over and over again. That included you and your father…" he mumbled the last part as he saw Kakashi's shocked face.

"Who was it who did this?" he asked, feeling angry that someone would dare do that to their ninja.

"A missing nin group from Kumo that specialize in genjutsu. I don't know if the man will ever be sane again, which is tragic since he had one of the biggest wills of fire I had ever seen. Now, could you carry him to the Yamanaka Clan compound with me? They are our only hope of ever healing this poor man."

Kakashi nodded solemnly as he followed his old hokage towards the Yamanaka Clan. It seemed that his new team would have to wait a bit longer before he met them. Well… on the bright side he wouldn't have to come up with a fake excuse for them anymore.

121212121212121212121212121212121212121212121212121212121212121212

Inoichi sighed as he looked at the man in front of him. He was currently in his therapist office built inside the clan compound and was not happy about this situation at all. The hokage had literally came in here, dropped off this man saying that he was beyond insane and any information he found was considered to be an SSS-rank secret. There wasn't even an SSS-rank! The old man made it up! Then he had the nerve to run off, saying something about having to contact his perverted student about some major information.

He sighed again as he formed his clan's famed sign and pointed it towards the blonde male. First things first he had to find out what was wrong with the man, and this was the only way how. "Yamanaka Style: Mind Possession Jutsu," he said calmly as he entered the man's mind.

121212121212121212121212122121212121212121212121212121212121212121

The first thing that tipped Inoichi off about something bad being in this mind was the layout of it. It was a sewer. This usually meant a horrible early life, maybe a rape of witnessed murder, but he had never seen one like this. There were pipes everywhere and not one wasn't leaking. Some were completely blown apart at the seams while others were just a steady stream of water. He decided to start with the small leaks on the pipes and followed them. These meant that the memories that they led to were bad but not life altering and were the easiest to fix. However, as he followed the leaky pipe he saw a few complete ones that looked like they were about to burst. He would follow those later, he couldn't get sidetracked or he would lose his way back in this maze of pipes.

Eventually he reached a door that the pipe connected to. Right before he was about to open it he heard a young voice behind him. "You don't want to open that," he said softly as he walked on top of the knee high water. He wore a ragged orange jacket that looked to be about a size too small and green pants with many pocket on them. On his waist was a katana and on his back was a large sealing scroll. He wore shinobi sandals and had a Konoha forehead protector as well as two others on his right arm. The one on the top had a slash running through it and the one below it had some sort of dust stuck inside of the symbol. Wait… didn't he have another one right above that?

"Why would I not want to go through here Mr…?" he asked.

"Hmm, that is an interesting question," he pondered with his hand stroking a small strip of blond hair that formed a goatee. "It is just that most people cannot handle what I have been through, and I am not sure how you would react to one of our minor bad memories. You may call me Zetsubo if you wish and there are three others in this mindscape. Naruto, Kanashimi, and Kyojin, the one that is in control. You really should just leave now… there is no reason for you to be here."

Inoichi looked back at the door for a moment then resolved to look into it later. Talking to Zetsubo here was apparently more important. "Okay, well can you tell me more about the others here Zetsubo-san?"

"What's the point?" Zetsubo asked sadly. "You cannot do anything. No-one can do anything. Our despair cannot be fixed and we will never be the person we once were…"

"Who were you before?" Inoichi asked, hoping to at least find that out before his time limit inside Zetsubo's, or was it Kyojin's, mindscape.

"To answer your question it is both of ours' and neither of ours…" Zetsubo mumbled in that hopeless tone of voice he had. Inoichi was shocked that the man knew that he even thought of and tried to quiet his thoughts. Even though he walked inside other people's minds it was still unnerving to have your own looked into. Zetsubo just nodded before saying, "I understand, I will refrain from looking into your thoughts any further. Now I will tell you a little bit about the original one of us…" he said quietly as he looked up towards the ceiling.

"He was really something special, even if no-one acted on it," he began. "He had a stronger will than all of us combined and was also the strongest. He and his brother could take on and defeat a god easily and he could even regenerate body parts with the help of bijuu. His name was Naruto Uzumaki and he was going to be the 6th Hokage."

"He was abused as a child. Rape, attempted murder, torture, as well as being hunted down like an animal or ignored like scum. It is surprising he did not turn into one of us much sooner but what he did to cope was not advisable… He split all of his sadness, anger, hopelessness, and insanity into four different personas," Zetsubo said this before pointing over towards the door that Inoichi was about to go through. "That was the day I was born. While most people think it is horrible, it is only minor compared to the life we have led…"

"He eventually made friends with people named Teuchi, Ayame, Iruka, and the 3rd Hokage. He later was accepted onto a team led by Kakashi Hatake along with Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno. They became friends and he was finally happy for a little while…" at this he sighed. "As all good things are meant to, this did not last. Sasuke was soon tempted with power by Orochimaru during their first chunin exams and later defected. Naruto did many great things along the way including, befriending another jinchuuriki named Gaara and keeping him from destroying the village being one of many. Later, he tried to retrieve Sasuke from the 'clutches' of Orochimaru and fought him before losing barely."

"That day was when me and sadness both got exponentially stronger, but anger was still the strongest feeling out of the suppressed ones. He then went on a training trip with Jiraiya of the sannin and he was mainly ignored while getting maybe four months of useful training out of three years. When he returned he had to deal with a threat known as Akatsuki that ended up killing Gaara, who was now Kazekage. After a sacrifice of a great old woman whose death ended up in vain, Gaara was revived and an Akatsuki member was dead."

Zetsubo continued explaining Naruto's life to Inoichi until he got to the end of his final battle. "He had the power of a god now. He was easily the strongest shinobi alive and thought that he had to defeat Sasuke to convince him to his viewpoint. Unfortunately, he went overboard and accidentally killed his brother. Without him, the balance was incomplete and Naruto lost his godly powers as well and was now weaker than Madara but still strong thanks to Kyuubi and the powers left over by the bijuu. However, thanks to Sakura and Kakashi blaming him for their predicament, his feelings of sadness, which included loneliness, was too much to contain and took over his mind and body. That was when Naruto Uzumaki died and Kanashimi took his place. It would be a few years until I took his place and when that happened he was even weaker."

With a clap from Zetsubo the world started turning brighter and brighter. "That is enough talk for now, your time is almost up. If you want more information about the next few years you will have to find Kanashimi since he is the only one with the memories until the Kakashi Incident. Farewell Inoichi, but remember. Whatever you are trying to do won't work, it never does…" and with that chilling message Inoichi returned to the physical world.

121212121212121212121212121212121212121212121212121212121212121212

Inoichi shot up from where he was seating earlier and immediately began to body flicker to the hokage's office. This information was groundbreaking and he also needed to get Naruto Uzumaki into his office as soon as possible. He would need to get Shikaku in on this too SSS-rank secrets be damned. This was the potential end of the world and they needed all of the help they could get.

12`1212121212121212121212121212121212121212121212121212121212121212

 **Well that was the second chapter. Thank you all for your support and I ask you to continue rating and reviewing this story. It helps me know that you are enjoying it and that I am doing something right. Next Chapter: Jiraiya Returns and Inoichi digs his nose into places he should have never gone…**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Naruto Shippuden, or any other anime/manga for that matter. This is just a parody and all rights belong to their specific owners.**

 **Review Responses:**

 **KassieJean: Thank you! And don't worry, while Naruto does have incredible powers that surpass the first hokage and barely above Madara, he does not have control over them. This is because of his insanity and his inability to focus at all during a fight (or in general) thanks to his PTSD. He will never be godlike with his powers, only as strong as Madara before the ten tails power up. If I had to put him somewhere I would put him at about Edo Tensei Madara at the beginning but with more jutsu.**

 **PureInsanity39: Thank you and I will try. It will be harder with me going back to school after healing from surgery as well as work and just random things I like doing but I am going to finish this story.**

 **Nwandu225 (First Review): Thanks, and you will be seeing more of Hiruzen in the future, trust me. This is more of a story of him and others trying to fix the world while Naruto gives him information.**

 **Nwandu225 (Second Review): Yea, he really is. And you haven't even seen the other two. Also, if you didn't know Kanashimi represents sadness and despair, Zetsubo represents hopelessness, and Kyojin represents insanity. He will not be the one to prevent the future from happening however, that responsibility rests on the Hokage's shoulders.**

 **LavenderMYSTery: Yes, I thought so too. And the thing about Naruto is that sometimes he thinks it's real, sometimes he thinks it is a genjutsu, and other times he thinks that he's in the afterlife. He's pretty fucked up.**

 **1212121212121212121212121212121212121212121212121212121212**

Hiruzen Sarutobi had never felt this thankful for his trusty pipe before this moment. It had been four days since Kyojin's, as Inoichi had asked him to call him, arrival in Konoha and the things Inoichi had learned were not pretty. Ever since their first meeting, Inoichi and Zetsubo had been talking to each other repeatedly ever since their first meeting and Zetsubo had been happy, well as happy as Zetsubo ever is, to reveal the true hopelessness in their situation.

Madara Uchiha… the legend himself would be fighting them with the power of a tailed beast no-one had even known about yet but was more powerful than even the Kyuubi. What. The. Hell? Seriously, how the hell were they going to be able to fight against that? It took Naruto and Sasuke both dying and the Sage of Six Path's intervention last time to beat Madara, but they couldn't afford to let time go by exactly as it did last time obviously. So, their only other options were to prevent Madara from ever rising again. And the easiest way to do that was to either kill the only two capable of doing such a thing or destroying the Rinnegan. Yes, those were their options… they were screwed.

Killing Kabuto would be extremely easy, if it was just him they needed to kill. Orochimaru would no doubt reach the same level Kabuto did with the Edo Tensei soon and he was much more difficult to find. He was also smarter, if Kabuto died suddenly, even if it was on a mission, he would call foul play and slither away somewhere. The only way to get to him would be to kill him at the Chunin Exams, not an easy feat, and somehow kill Kabuto before he could get away. Even if he put Kakashi against Kabuto while he and Jiraiya fought Orochimaru, it wouldn't be a favorable option since there would be giant snakes everywhere and an actual army at their doorstep.

The second option was to kill a man by the name of Pain who had killed Jiraiya after he only killed three of his bodies. Sure, he had been surprised and ambushed, but that barely lessened a feat such as that. For ninja of his caliber, they did not get surprised, only slightly less prepared. Their best bet for that was to train Naruto in sage training again and allow him to release the nine tails to an extent and try and kill Pain. This was even more unfavorable than the last plan since he would have to allow most of his villagers to die again and there was no guarantee they would be brought back this time.

The last, and hardest, option was to wait until the war to defeat Obito, his heart still ached whenever he thought of that sweet boy as their enemy, before he could complete his plans. They would then unite and defeat Madara, but there was no telling how many casualties that would produce. All of this was not even counting the fact that Black Zetsu could survive and redo these events in the future. Hiruzen sighed as he put his face in his hands. Their situation really was hopeless wasn't it? However, he would not just give up, he needed to do everything that he could to protect his country and village.

He pulled out a scroll and began to write. He had always liked to write down possible plans on a scroll before finally selecting one and sticking with it. It would keep all of the ones he thought up in one place so that when he finally decided to select one he had many different variables to add to it sitting right in front of him. He had usually done this during war time and it was one of the reasons that Konoha had never lost a war. He wasn't called the Professor for no reason after all.

One idea had briefly entered his head about having someone else lead as hokage over the next few years. Tsunade was a great choice… for peacetime. She had not been an active shinobi in a long time and he feared her commanding skills had decreased exponentially. Itachi would have been a great hokage, strong, a pacifist but not afraid to do his duty, and respected. However, that respect had all but been erased over the years and they couldn't just pull him back and give him the hat. Besides, they needed someone to keep an eye on Akatsuki now more than ever. Finally, there was Kakashi, now that was a choice. He was commanding and a genius in many ways, he was already kage level, but unfortunately he was a low kage level. No… he would have to wait a few more years to give him the hat, he was going to increase the man's training though, whether he liked it or not.

Hell, he would train the man himself if he needed to, he knew about 3,000 jutsu give or take a few and Kakashi would need every single one. Not only that but he would be trained in every shinobi art relentlessly for the upcoming possible war. Not only him, but the academy would have to have their academics improved. Less superficial knowledge and more chakra control or taijutsu training would do well as well as harsher training periods. Plus, all ninja would have certain days off to train in a specific area with a master overseeing all of them on that day. There would be a day for each shinobi art and it was going to begin that very day. Yes, Hiruzen had a ton of work to do and much more to do. However, he couldn't help but think it wouldn't be enough…

121212121212121212121212121212112121212121212121212121212121212121

Naruto Uzumaki ducked into another alleyway as he fled at full speed from approaching Anbu. Damn it, he thought that he had hidden everything enough with the other personifications. Of course he knew about them, but they helped him cope so what was the problem with it. Sure, Ikari always seemed a bit annoyed while Zetsubo seemed depressed all of the time and Kanashimi cried a lot and Kyojin never stopped laughing at something but they were his friends. They were all he had for the longest time and he wasn't going to abandon them by telling anyone.

"Turn right, then left, then jump into that empty room up there," Ikari told him with calm efficiency, but his tone betrayed his annoyance with the whole situation. Naruto never knew how he was always better at directions than any of the other people in his mind and when he had asked he had always moved around the question with a simple 'I had help'. However, this did not stop Naruto from following his personification of anger's instructions immediately.

"Good job, now drop a class 3 prank and send five clones in different directions before hiding under that loose floorboard," Zetsubo said in a bored voice. He did not see the point in all of this work for a situation where they would all be caught anyway, but the one in charge needed help and he felt obligated to help his creator.

"Hehehe for a hopeless guy you sure put in a lot of work," Kyojin chuckled lightly beside Zetsubo. They all looked exactly like Naruto only with the kanji that represented their emotions on their backs. Ikari found it very annoying that they all looked so similar.

"He is our creator, we are obligated to help him in his goals and needs. He is stronger with us than he is without us so we need to help him in any way he can."

"*sob* *sob* why do they have to chase us?" Kanashimi cried in the corner of the sewer that was Naruto's mind. "We didn't do anything wrong, we just want to stay together, is that so bad?" Zetsubo sighed as Kanashimi said all of this while Ikari told him to shut up and Kyojin laughed. One day he was going to get away from all of these guys, they never understood the hopelessness in the situation at hand anyway.

"Or you can just give up?" Zetsubo asked.

"No, I can't do that, if I do that they will take you guys away," Naruto said in his mind as an Anbu triggered the smoke trap coated with his chakra. That had been made by Kyojin who had come up with the unpredictable technique, he really owed him one for that.

"They are Anbu, you are barely a genin."

"Shut up," and Zetsubo immediately stopped talking. Whenever their master told them to shut up, they had no choice but to do so. As annoying as this was, he was actually scared that one day he would tell them all to shut up forever, and he would not need them anymore. He knew it would happen one day however, there was no hope for them now.

"Run, now, as fast as you can," Ikari said after a little while, completely serious. The Anbu had chased the clones they had seen but that was not what Ikari, or the Kyuubi, sensed. They sensed someone that was kage level and was looking for him actively.

Naruto did not question him, he just ran. He ran as fast as he could through every nook and cranny he came across. However, it was not fast enough to outpace a sannin. He got no warning before colliding with a tall man with a lion's mane of white hair, a red forehead protector with horns, and a stern face. Jiraiya had been brought back to Konoha the previous day on a matter of utmost importance. At first, he had been angry that his sensei wasted his time with looking after the blond brat, but a quick punch to the jaw took away that anger and left him with bewilderment.

This lasted until his sensei finished explaining the situation and he had to be physically contained before he went out and killed everyone who had dared to lay a hand on his godson. He knew he shirked his duties, he knew that more than anyone, but how dare they do that to his student's son?! He had thought that Naruto would have been safer in Konoha than traveling with him and what does he learn? He learns that his precious godson had been raped, beaten many times, and overall shat on without his knowledge.

Now, he was being tasked with bringing his broken godson to Inoichi for therapy and hopeful recovery. He had wished he would never be forced to do something like this. He had wished for his godson to live a nice life in Konoha. How naïve and stupid he had been… "Come on Naruto, I'm taking you to Inoichi."

"No! No, you can't take me there! You can't take my friends away from me!" he yelled at the top of his lungs and Jiraiya had to quickly grab his arm to keep him from running again. His eyes widened in surprise when Naruto, like a cornered fox, leapt at him with wide eyes and crouched behind him when he dodged.

"I won't let you take them from me!" he yelled in a more animal than human voice as red chakra started to seep from his skin. He quickly knocked the boy unconscious before anyone could tell any chakra escaped and he sighed when he noticed a few tears trek down the boy's face before he fell unconscious. "Please… don't take… my friends away…" he muttered as he closed his eyes.

Jiraiya couldn't help but look at the boy with grief filled eyes. He should have gone with his gut and raised the boy. Now, he was too late and his student's son had to pay for it. Forget about the council, forget about the hokage, no matter what anyone said he was taking this boy with him as soon as he recovered enough. Anyone who disagreed with him would have to take it up with him. Personally.

121212121212121212121212121212121212121212121212121212121212121212

Inoichi looked around the sewer of Naruto's mind as he stood in the center of five pathways. He knew the 3rd went to Zetsubo's domain but he had been very tightlipped about the other pathways with the simple command to never go down the 5th path and go down the 4th with caution. He also said that the 1st and 2nd were not advisable but that he could go down them if he wished. However, he had to figure out what was wrong with Naruto and the best way to do that was to go down the most traumatic paths first.

With his face set in a grim and stubborn face, he began his way down the 5th pathway. As soon as he stepped into the hallway, if it could be called that, he felt a feeling of foreboding that almost made him turn around and go back to Zetsubo. However, he felt as if he would find out nothing else that way. Zetsubo had not told him much more than the events of the world before and the weaknesses of everyone they had fought, and he had seen all of the hopeless doors already. There actually weren't that many surprisingly. Apparently, Naruto had quite the strong will and rarely, if ever felt hopeless which meant less doors.

This path, however, was filled to the brim with openings. There weren't any doors, but if he looked down into the knee deep water he could see many memories. There was one of a villager yelling at Naruto, there was one where a pink headed girl he recognized as Sakura hit him, there was one where he was facing off against who he guessed was Sasuke at the Valley of the End. Oh, so that was where he was, Ikari's realm. Oh well, at least there was no-one guarding it, or at least he hoped there wasn't.

As he continued walking for what felt like hours he finally came across a… cage? And it was open. So it seemed that Ikari's realm was also where the Kyuubi had used to reside. Charming. He was about to call it a day with this discovery that there was a whole new pathway to look into when he fell to his knees after being hit by a massive killing intent. "Who are you?" a cold voice that sent chills down Inoichi's spine asked from inside the cage.

A figure stepped out and Inoichi had to gasp at what he saw. The figure had the head of a fox, a chest of a red monkey, a neck made of blue fire it seemed, a right arm made out of some sort of slimy material, a left arm made of scaly material with stubby fingers and a shell over the elbow, a left leg that looked like it came from a horse, a right leg that was made out of sand with markings all over it, 8 tentacles that came out of his tailbone, and two wings that look like they came from insects. "I must look like a freak huh? You would think so, you are from Konoha of course!" he yelled this last part and the killing intent multiplied.

"That's all you Konoha people are! Liars and hypocrites who call us demons and never try to see us for us! Even my creator lied to me! He said he would accept me and never leave us, he said he would always be our friend and look at us now! He relinquished his control to everyone but me, because I am the only one he couldn't accept! Even though I saved his ungrateful ass so many times, he wouldn't accept me, he only lied to me and made me think he would!" he said this last part with much more anger than usual and then turned his anger filled eyes towards Inoichi. "Of course you already know that don't you? Who do you think you are? Trying to get information out of us like we are your little puppets, you should just die."

After he said that, sand Inoichi did not even know was there launched from the ground and tried to grab him to crush him. He closed his eyes and accepted his fate, knowing he couldn't escape this monster when he was picked up and thrown out of the way. He felt a bit of wind and all of a sudden he was back at where he began with Zetsubo making hand seals for some jutsu. He slammed a glowing hand to the ground and Inoichi's eyes widened when he saw kanji go from it towards the entrance to the pathway he had just escaped and form a gate in front of it. This was just in time as the monster, Ikari, slammed into the gate's bars, frothing at the mouth and using every jutsu he knew against the bars.

Zetsubo paid him no heed as he turned towards Inoichi and sighed. "So, I guess I owe you some answers now huh?" Inoichi nodded fervently and Zetsubo sighed again. This was going to be annoying... He pointed his thumb towards Ikari and calmly said. "That, is what Kanashimi accidentally created when he released all of the tailed beasts," Inoichi was listing intently now, finally more answers.

"When he released all of our tailed friends, he forgot that they would have to leave a small amount of chakra, a jounin's full amount for us, behind so we could survive with the sudden lack of chakra. With nowhere else to store it, he stored it where the old seal was… Ikari's domain. I have already told you about Ikari, the representation of Naruto's anger, but what I did not tell you was that he was never fully accepted. For him to fully accept him, Naruto would have to do whatever Ikari wanted him to do for a little while. However, the last thing he asked Naruto to do was destroy Konoha, which he just couldn't do."

"This left the small consciousness that Ikari had left floating around in his old domain, helpless to help or stop the events unfolding in front of his very eyes. He was a shadow of his old self with almost no chakra but much more anger and hatred. When the bijuu left their chakra behind it had to take some sort of form so that it could stay in Naruto's body… what you saw there was the result. He is stronger that all of us, albeit barely, but Naruto could defeat him in a heartbeat. However, he is not with us right now so that option was out, I had not wanted to seal my brother so I had told you not to go down there."

At this point Zetsubo glared at Inoichi and before he could open his mouth Zetsubo held up one of his hands. "Leave, mind-walker," and Inoichi felt a whooshing sound all around him before waking up in his own body outside of Kyojin's body. This… would be problematic.

121212121212121212121212121212121212121212121212121212121212121212

 **AN: And that's a wrap. I honestly could not find a way to start this for a long time. I had actually ended up making Itachi hokage in one instance, making half of Akatsuki die in another, making Danzo and Friends (TV show still in development) die, as well as many other poor ideas. I finally decided on this one and I hope it is good enough for all of your liking. Please don't forget to rate and review and I hope you all have a nice day.**


End file.
